The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) with assistance from the World Bank is implementing the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement Project (SPESSE). The Project development objective is to develop sustainable capacity in managing procurement, environment and social safeguards in the public sector. SPESSE is conceived on the need to bridge the gap between insufficient supply of quality professionals in the procurement, environmental and social sectors and the lack of academic programs and curriculum in these sectors in the Nigerian education system. The cornerstone of SPESSE implementation is the creation of Centres of Excellence (CE) in Nigerian Universities to deliver a series of capacity building tracks in a sustainable manner in procurement, environmental and social standards. 

The Project Implementing Unit (PIU) for the Environmental Standards is domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Environment, with officers from other line agencies. The mandate of the Environment Node is to develop a reputable and globally acceptable online certification scheme for Nigeria.